Integrate OpenCode with Live Airtable Data via CData Connect AI

OpenCode is an open source AI coding agent that connects to a wide range of LLM providers. It supports the model context protocol (MCP), allowing you to configure local or remote MCP servers in its configuration files to add external tools and data sources and give the agent access to live data.

By integrating OpenCode with CData Connect AI through the built-in MCP Server, OpenCode gains governed, real-time access to live Airtable data. You can list catalogs, explore schemas, and query records from Airtable data using natural language prompts, with all data access running securely against authorized sources.

This article explains how to configure Airtable connectivity in Connect AI, generate the required personal access token, install OpenCode, add the Connect AI MCP Server in the project configuration file, configure an LLM provider, and verify the integration by querying live Airtable data from OpenCode.

Step 1: Configure Airtable connectivity for OpenCode

Connectivity to Airtable from OpenCode is made possible through Connect AI's Remote MCP Server. To interact with Airtable data from OpenCode, start by creating and configuring a Airtable connection in Connect AI.

1. Log into Connect AI, click Sources, and then click Add Connection

2. Select Airtable from the Add Connection panel

3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Airtable.

   APIKey, BaseId and TableNames parameters are required to connect to Airtable. ViewNames is an optional parameter where views of the tables may be specified.

   • APIKey : API Key of your account. To obtain this value, after logging in go to Account. In API section click Generate API key.
   • BaseId : Id of your base. To obtain this value, it is in the same section as the APIKey. Click on Airtable API, or navigate to https://airtable.com/api and select a base. In the introduction section you can find "The ID of this base is appxxN2ftedc0nEG7."
   • TableNames : A comma separated list of table names for the selected base. These are the same names of tables as found in the UI.
   • ViewNames : A comma separated list of views in the format of (table.view) names. These are the same names of the views as found in the UI.
   
4. Click Save & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab and update user-based permissions

Add a Personal Access Token

A Personal Access Token (PAT) is used to authenticate the connection to Connect AI from OpenCode. It is best practice to create a separate PAT for each integration to maintain granular access control.

1. Click the gear icon () at the top right of the Connect AI app to open Settings
2. On the Settings page, go to the Access Tokens section and click Create PAT
3. Give the PAT a descriptive name and click Create

4. Copy the token when displayed and store it securely. It will not be shown again

With the Airtable connection configured and a PAT generated, OpenCode can now connect to Airtable data through Connect AI.

Step 2: Install OpenCode and configure the Connect AI MCP Server

Next, install OpenCode, add the Connect AI Remote MCP Server in your project configuration file, and configure an LLM provider so the agent can discover and call live data tools through Connect AI.

1. Download and install OpenCode by following the official installation guide
2. Create a new folder for your project, or open an existing project directory
3. In the root of that directory, create a file named opencode.json and paste the following configuration:

   {
     "$schema": "https://opencode.ai/config.json",
     "mcp": {
       "cdata-connect-ai": {
         "type": "remote",
         "url": "https://mcp.cloud.cdata.com/mcp",
         "enabled": true,
         "oauth": false,
         "headers": {
           "Authorization": "Basic your_base64_encoded_email_PAT"
         },
         "timeout": 30000
       }
     }
   }
   		

   Note: OpenCode will use Basic authentication with Connect AI. Combine your Connect AI user email and the PAT you created earlier in the format email:PAT, base64 encode the combined string, and prefix it with Basic. For example, given [email protected]:ABC123...XYZ789, the Authorization header value becomes something like: Basic dXNlckBkb21haW4uY29tOkFCQzEyMy4uLlhZWjc4OQ==

4. Open the project directory in OpenCode. Select the project from the project dropdown, or click Add project to point OpenCode at the folder that contains opencode.json
5. Configure an LLM provider so the agent can interpret prompts and call MCP tools. Open the model selector (Ctrl + '), choose a provider such as OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google, and enter your API key

With the MCP server added in opencode.json and an LLM provider configured, OpenCode is ready to query live Airtable data through Connect AI.

Step 3: Query live Airtable data from OpenCode

With the integration complete, use OpenCode to interact with live Airtable data through natural language prompts handled by the configured LLM.

1. In a new session, type a prompt in the chat input, for example:
   • Use the cdata-connect-ai tools to list all available catalogs
   • Show the available schemas and tables for Airtable
   • Query the top 5 records from a table in Airtable
2. OpenCode calls the Connect AI MCP Server and returns live results from Airtable data

At this point, OpenCode communicates with the Connect AI MCP Server and retrieves live Airtable data through remote MCP tools directly from your AI coding agent.

Get CData Connect AI

To access hundreds of SaaS, big data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications, try CData Connect AI today. Download a free 14-day trial of CData Connect AI, and our Support Team is available to help with any questions you have.